Intimate partner violence (IPV), defined as actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse by current or former partners, is currently a public health concern globally. According to World Health Organization, the global prevalence of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence women was 30 % [1] and the prevalence is very high in countries from sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia [2]. Intimate partner violence is known to be associated with both short and long term psychological and mental health problems including depression, anxiety, tendencies towards addiction and suicidal ideation [3–5]. In Ghana, the prevalence of IPV has been reported to be low-fewer than 4 % of women report ever experiencing any victimization [6]. Reasons attributed to the low reported cases of such violence was that such cases of IPV may be considered less appropriate, not worthy of people’s attention and sometimes dependent on the nature of physical violence their husbands use.

Gender equity is an important step in women empowerment. In many societies, norms and cultural practices justify that men have the right to use force against women [7, 8]. These practices have serious consequences for the physical, psychological, and reproductive and sexual health of women [9, 10]. Approval of partner violence and its psychosocial effects have been documented [11, 12]. Most of these studies showed that the rate of justification and approval of domestic physical violence against wives in many countries are quite high and can vary by the reason for abuse (e.g. infidelity, neglect of child). Furthermore, these studies found that women tended to approve of IPV (including physical violence) at a greater rate than men, and factors reflecting lower socio-economic status is associated with typically higher acceptance of IPV [8].

One of the reasons for the acceptance of violence against women, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia countries has been attributed to patriarchy [13, 14]. Patriarchy reflects social attitudes and norms around the role of women in relation to men as a source of partner violence [14]. The power of male superiority as reflected in studies showed that large percentages of both men and women believe that male violence against women are acceptable under different circumstances [7, 8, 15]. This ideology thus plays an important role acceptance and or approval of IPV towards women, where the behaviours of women are construed to be the triggers of violence by the partners [13], and women generally accepts this power exertion on them [16].

There is evidence of the existence of patriarchy in Ghana [17, 18], as men are considered wise, strong and placed in positions of authority compared to women. Male dominance has also resulted in low literacy rate of 63.5 % compared to the male rate of 78.3 % [19]. A study among university students from Ghana showed that the frequency of use of controlling behaviours and victimization/perpetration amongst men and women (e.g. control the other’s money) were similar, and controlling behaviours were seen to be associated with IPV [20]. A recent study conducted in Ghana has suggested that women who reported physical, psychological and sexual violence were more likely to have suicidal thoughts, sleep deprivation and fear of partners or husbands [21].

Within this context, it is further relevant to understand the role of socio-demographics such as age, place of residence, marital status, education, occupational status and wealth in the dynamics of domestic physical violence against wives across the globe [7]. We focus on Ghana because some previous studies have reported that less than 5 % of all women have reported being abused in one form or another [22]. Despite this observation, there is a paucity of scholarly research on women’s approval of domestic physical violence against women by their husbands and or partners especially using data at the national level. The aim of this study is to investigate factors that influence women approval of domestic physical violence against women in Ghana using data from the 2003 to 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.

This study was conducted to examine socio-demographic trends in women’s approval of domestic physical violence among Ghanaians women using data from 2003 to 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. This study found that several socio-demographic factors were associated with the likelihood of a woman approving domestic physical violence against wives. Age, level of education, place of residence, religion and wealth index were independently associated with approval of physical violence against wives. The younger a woman, the more likely that she would approve domestic violence against wives. No consistent trend was found between marital status and approval of physical domestic violence against wives. The relationship between level of education and women’s approval of domestic physical violence against wives were mainly negative and significant such that women with lower education had higher chances of approving domestic physical violence against wife compared to those with higher education. Furthermore, women of the Moslem and Traditional beliefs were both more likely to approve physical domestic violence against wife than those with Christian beliefs. The findings also showed that women who were in the richest, rich and middle wealth index categories were less likely to approve physical domestic violence against wife compared to those in the lower wealth category.

In this study, women aged 25–34 and 15–24 had higher probability of approving domestic violence against wives compared to those aged 35 years and above. This therefore suggests that the younger a woman, the likelihood of accepting domestic violence against wives. A woman’s age has been shown to affect the perception and attitudes towards physical domestic violence against wives [8, 28–30]. There is, however, no consistency in the literature. While some studies have found that age decrease the likelihood of approving physical violence against women [8] other studies indicated otherwise [28, 29]. In some other studies, approving of domestic violence of women is dependent on the type of offence committed. For example, Waltermaurer et al. [8] found out that Georgian woman less than 25 years of age were more likely to justify physical domestic violence against wives when a woman refuses sex compared to women aged 25–34. The same study further indicated that older women were more likely to justify physical domestic violence against wives around issues of infidelity or going out without permission compared to the middle age group [8]. A recent study in Ghana indicated that the age difference between younger women and their older male partners can create a “father-daughter” relationship, leading to emotional violence [31]. In the same vein, this relationship could lead to the acceptance or approval of physical domestic violence against wives as found in this study.

We found that the lower a woman’s education, the more likely that she would accept domestic physical violence against women. We found that women with no education, primary education and junior secondary education had higher probability of approving physical domestic violence against wives compared to a woman who had secondary education or higher. Furthermore, a gradient exist in these relationships, implying that the higher a woman’s education, the lower the likelihood of approving physical domestic violence against wife. Similar findings had been reported in a recent study conducted in Malawi [32], and an extensive literature review on women’s attitudes towards physical domestic violence against wives in 25 countries in Sub-Saharan African countries [33]. Similarly, Mann and Takyi [15] reported that Ghanaian women with no education were more likely to support violent ideologies, suggesting that higher education could lead to the reduction in supporting violent ideologies. Education does not only provide important information for decision making but also encourages empowerment and autonomy. These numerous benefits of education is vital in influencing women’s perception about domestic violence. The inverse relationship between education and acceptance of domestic violence of wives among women could be attributed to the fact that educated women perceive domestic violence as a negative phenomenon which could have physical and psychological harm on the victim [15], while less educated women are less informed about the consequences of such behaviour.

Consistent with previous studies in Kenya [34], Uganda [35] and elsewhere [36], rural residency was found to increase the likelihood of accepting domestic physical violence. Disparities in women empowerment campaigns, especially to those living in rural setting, as well as the lack of exposure to new forms of interpersonal relationship management including domestic violence could account for the rural–urban differences in justification of domestic physical violence.

Traditional faith practitioners had the likelihood to approve physical domestic violence of wife compared to Christians. Also, Moslems were more likely to approve physical domestic violence against wives compared to Christians. A study conducted among Egyptian, Palestine, Israelis and Tunisian women found that religion (Islamic) was associated with acceptance of violence against wives, as selective excerpts from the Koran are erroneously used to justify it [37]. Religion which exercises a strong regulatory system may have different shared social values among its members. This could therefore confirm the findings in the present study regarding differences among women in approving domestic physical violence of wives among women by religion. It would be important for religious leaders especially those in Africa to educate their members about the physical and psychological effect of domestic violence against women.

Women who were in the richest, rich and middle wealth index categories were less likely to approve physical domestic violence wives compared to those from lower wealth index. A previous study in Ghana has found a similar result where a significant relationship was found between economic dependency and IPV [15]. The mechanism underlying the relationship between wealth index and approval of physical domestic violence of wives by women could be explained from the resource theory, along with women financial independence, where there is less today reliance on men for their source of living. This finding suggests that improving the standards of living of women could have an effect on women’s perception of domestic violence against wives.

The findings of this study must be interpreted cautiously in the light of some important limitations. This study is limited by its cross-sectional nature and hence causal inferences cannot be made. Furthermore, the study relied on self-report measures, which could be affected by social desirability bias or memory bias. Future research is also needed to ascertain which social as well as cultural factors are influencing women’s justification of domestic violence again wives. Despite these shortcomings, the study has compelling strengths. First, the large sample size gave the study sufficient power. Additionally, the representativeness of the sampling strategy as well as the nationwide nature of the data boosts the study’s generalizability to other settings.

In summary, age, level of education, place of residence, religion and wealth index were found to be associated with Ghanaian women’s approval of domestic physical violence against women. This study contributes to the scanty literature on the influence of socio-demographic factors in relations to women’s attitude towards domestic violence against women in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana in particular. Interventions and policies should be geared at contextualising intimate partner violence in terms of the approval of this behaviour, as this can play an important role in perpetration and victimization. These interventions must target women with low educational status and less wealth.